The Roar

Reader: Mollie W
Age: 15
Title: The Roar
Author: Emma Clayton
Publisher: Chicken House (a division of Scholastic)
Pub Date: April 2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Annotation: Mika's world has been spun into a place based purely on mystery and lies, though he seems to be the only one who senses it. After his sister vanishes and a new government program that targets children rises, Mika decides that the only hope of finding his sister may be in beating the government at their own game.
Convince us to read the book: The Roar is a book that you won't come across at a book store, it's the farthest thing from mainstream and that is very advantageous to the plot, because you never can quite guess where the story will go next.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The Roar pulls off many different things at once, but the best aspect of the book for me, was how well crafted the villain of the story is. For me, the bad guy is of top priority and must be handled properly. In this book, Mal Gorman is far from the generic villain. He's old, frail, and...evil. A man of his age being the bad guy is something that isn't as easy to pull off as a middle aged man and I applaud Clayton for how easily she makes this believable. All the characters in the book are shaped in such a way, that their personality, intentions and motivations are vividly reflected.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: The only thing that I could say I'm disappointed in is the cliffhanger ending. I hate those! This ending is most definitely open ended, which is probably because a sequel is in the works.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: Though I liked the pod fighter being on the cover, I felt it was too busy and would drive people away from reading it.
Age Range:12-17
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal